Statuettes of the Hindu God Shiva-Parvati and the Buddha jostle for space with paintings of pensive prostitutes in the eclectic studio of maverick painter Iqbal Hussain, housed in Cooco’s Den, the famous restaurant founded by him in the heart of Lahore’s red light district.

"I am an outsider. I paint what I see. I don’t care what others think of me," says the painter, the proud son of a courtesan, as he takes you to the lantern-lit terrace of the restaurant that offers a unique view of the Badshahi Mosque and Lahore Fort – two prized landmarks of a city that parties well into the night.

Cooco’s is the setting of a much-hyped novel about Mohsin Hamid that dramatizes a conversation between a reluctant fundamentalist in Pakistan and an unidentified American.

"The sad thing is Pakistan can’t stand up to American double standards. Equating Pakistan with terrorism is a very wrong thing. We are a peaceful country. Radicals are in a minority," Hussain told IANS.

A born iconoclast, he has some straight-from-the-heart things to say about Pakistan’s "love-hate" affair with India.

"I love India. We are the same family and we enjoy each other’s company," says Hussain, an avid fan of Indian film legends Dilip Kumar and Saira Bano.

"Politicians have created a rift or divide. Let’s get rid of visas and let people and dreams flow."

"Cooco’s embraces the sacred and the profane," says Hussain, pointing to the city’s oldest gurdwara nearby and Hira Mandi at the back – full of dimly-lit narrow alleys that once flaunted some of Pakistan’s most beautiful dancing girls. It has now become the refuge of painted, gaudy prostitutes.

"My passion is painting. If I am honest to myself and observe the life around me honestly, I don’t care about fashions and fads," Hussain says, as rich Lahoris and expatriates tuck into kebabs and other delicacies that have made Cooco’s a status symbol.

"Hira Mandi culture is on the wane. People are no longer fond of classical music and dance. Pornography has become very common," says Hussain, who still lives in the same house where his mother entertained in the heyday of Hira Mandi.

"In Islamic countries, prostitution is illegal. Most of my life, I faced the stigma of being a prostitute’s son."

A street kid from Hira Mandi, Hussain studied at the National College of Arts to become a painter, only to be despised by the prima donnas of society.

"But I never gave up. I was harassed by fanatics," Hussain says, recalling his early days when he mostly painted suicidal, sad women peeping out of kothis in Hira Mandi.